This is the blog of the online CRBR, a forum for people who work on Belgian refugees during WW1 (UK, FR, NL...) and for people who want to share their personal history.

Thursday, 19 April 2018

"Where do we go from here?" One day symposium on Belgian refugees. 13 September 2018, Brussels.

Where do we
go from here?

One-day symposium on Belgian
refugees

KU Leuven, Brussels Campus, 13
September 2018

First Call for Papers / Call for
Panels / Call for Posters

Charity event in support of Belgian refugees, 16
September 1914.

Throughout the Centenary years
the transnational history of Belgian refugees and the First World War has been
receiving increasing attention, especially in the Netherlands and in the United
Kingdom. Many (inter)national, regional and local history projects emerged,
each with its own valuable contribution to the overall history of First World
War displacement. Many academic research projects appeared too, resulting in
numerous publications referring to Belgians in exile, but only few publications
covered the specific history in detail. And yet, there is still ample ground to
cover the history of the Belgian refugees.

The aim of this one-day symposium
is therefore to position the displacement and temporary settlement of Belgian
refugees during the First World War within a double framework. Firstly, within
the context of the Centenary period and its local projects or academic output
papers are invited that expand existing knowledge and/or that provide context
and analysis to ongoing research. Secondly, the symposium aims to open up new
pathways into the histories of the respective Belgian refugee communities, more
in particular within a comparative context or with a focus on legacy.

Certification for British children in recognition of
their support for Belgian children
(no date)

Papers are welcomed that provide
a perspective on existing research, elaborate on ongoing projects or uncover
further primary sources on Belgian refugees. Papers can be holistic as well as
interdisciplinary, taking from research such as memory studies, reception
studies, trauma studies and linguistic research, but not exclusively. Although
the conference aims to reflect on past (hi)stories, contributions that relate
historical research Belgian refugees to current-day refugee situations are
equally encouraged to submit. The event will very likely focus mainly on
Belgian refugees in exile in the UK and on those in the Netherlands.

The aim of the symposium is to
attract academic papers that look into spatial and/or temporal analyses, including
(but not exclusively):

First World War Belgian refugees’ communities other than those UK
and NL, more in particular France and Switzerland.

Repatriation, return and resettlement issues of Belgian refugees
from end of 1918 onwards. (Was a level of reintegration needed?
Differences in local activism between the reception of refugees in their
host nation and upon return home.)

Comparison between Belgian refugees displacement and resettlement
in 1918/1919 and 1944/1945.

Comparison between xenophobic responses that emerged over time and
today’s refugee situation.

Belgian refugees in Sutton, 1915.

Papers are invited on more
thematic approaches as well, including (but not exclusively):

Social, political, cultural, religious, financial or industrial networks
relevant to the histories of Belgian refugees (readily available networks
before, newly established during and those lasting until well after the
First World War).

Spatial and/or social mobility of the Belgian refugees, within host nations and across countries.

The influence of early repatriation efforts and organisations
(autumn 1914) on the image of the Belgians and their temporary sojourn.

The influence of the many parts of the fragmented Belgian nation on
its afterwar socio-political strives.

Why were refugee stories weakened or even silenced in family
histories and in general histories? (The legacy of the First World War
soldier - Belgian or British - or returned forced labourer, silent at
home, and how it affected family refugee history? The complex
reconstruction of a fragmented Belgian nation in which no space was
available for the imagined communities that were the Belgian communities
in exile?).

Who remained in their host country after 1919, or returned there in the years immediately after the First World War.

A charity event in Belfast, 31 August 1915. A
fitting title for the fragmented Belgian nation.

Panels are equally invited, they
ideally focus on several papers that share specific characteristics (this can
be spatial, temporal but also along specific features of a Belgian exile
community, such as class).

As the symposium aims to provide
a platform where interested parties can exchange information on their projects
and interests with relevant other interested parties, research projects –
academic as well as local ones – are invited to present a poster during the
break sessions.

Front of the booklet Scotland's National Appeal
(December 1915).

Papers are invited

·for
25 minute presentations, send a 300 word abstract and brief bio;

·for
a one hour panel, send a 300 word proposal and a 100-word bio per participant;

·for
a poster, send a summary of your project or what you would like to present

The symposium expresses its
sincere gratitude to Pat Heron and Marleen Van Ouytsel, who both did not live
to enjoy the fruits of their efforts.

Peter Cahalan has kindly accepted
to act as honorary chairman of the scientific committee. The latter will be
fully disclosed with the second Call for Papers (mid-May).

Both the Letteren department of
KU Leuven, Brussels Campus, and the Centre for Reception Studies have agreed to
supporting the event.

Detail of a
postcard, written in London, sent in September 1915:
"Paul, my man, there is no comparison between life here and that in Rouen.
We should have come here much sooner. The mademoiselles here are really pretty
too, they all have this friendly face. [...]
There are more Belgian soldiers than English ones, they are looked after really
well by the local people, mostly by the 'Misskes'."